Robert A. Destro – Professor of Law

Robert A. Destro is Professor of Law and founding Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Law & Religion at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C. He has been a member of the faculty since 1982 and served as Interim Dean from 1999-2001. From 1983 to 1989 Professor Destro served as a Commissioner on the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and led the Commission's discussions in the areas of discrimination on the basis of disability, national origin and religion.

He has served as Special Counsel to the Ohio Attorney General and the Ohio Secretary of State on election law matters from 2004-2006; as General Counsel to the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights from 1977 to 1982, and as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at Marquette University from 1978-1982. From 1975 to 1977, he was engaged in the private practice of law with the law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Cleveland, Ohio.

Professor Destro was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1972 from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and his law degree (J.D.) in 1975 from the University of California at Berkeley. His areas of specialization, scholarship and litigation include: freedom of speech and religion in the United States and abroad; bioethics; discrimination on the basis of race, disability, national origin and religion; comparative constitutional law; election law; private international law (conflict of laws); legal ethics, and bioethics. He is co-author, with Michael S. Ariens, of Religious Liberty in a Pluralistic Society (Carolina Academic Press, 2d ed., 2002; 3d edition, forthcoming).

Professor Destro lives in Arlington, Virginia with his wife Brenda and their two children, Gina and Mark.

"Citizenship and Community: Legacy and Challenge." Law and the Free Society. Latrobe, Pa.: Center for Economic and Policy Education, 1998, 57.

"Gangs and Civil Rights." In Gangs: The Origins and Impact of Contemporary Youth Gangs in the United States, edited by Scott Cummings and Daniel J. Monti. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993.

"Work: The Human Environment." In Building the Free Society: Democracy, Capitalism, and Catholic Social Teaching, edited by George Weigel and Robert Royal. Grand Rapids, MI: Erdmans, 1993.

"A Non-Discrimination and Democratic Pluralism Perspective on the Role of Parental Choice in the Debate Over Educational Equity." In Search of a National Morality, edited by William B. Ball. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1992.

"Laborem Exercens." In A Century of Catholic Social Thought: Essays on 'Rerum Novarum' and Nine Other Key Documents, edited by G. Weigel and R. Royal . Lanham, MD.: University Publications of America, 1991.

"Target the Elderly: A Nondiscrimination Perspective on Daniel Callahan's 'Setting Limits'." In Set No Limits: A Rebuttal to Daniel Callahan's Proposal to Limit Health Care for the Elderly. Champaign-Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1991.

"Guaranteeing a Minimum Quality of Life Through Law: The Emerging Right to a Good Life." In Guaranteeing the Good Life: Medicine and the Return to Eugenics, edited by R. J. Neuhaus. Grand Rapids, MI: Erdmans, 1990.

"Constitutional Aspects of Medical Care Discrimination Against Children With Disabilities." In Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights: Medical Care Discrimination Against Children With Disabilities. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989.

"Images of Community in the Constitutional Law of Religious Liberty." In Catholic Commission on Intellectual and Cultural Affairs Annual. South Bend, Ind.: University of Notre Dame, 1989.

"The Family and Public Policy." In The Family Today and Tomorrow. Braintree, Massachusetts: Pope John XXIII Medical-Moral Research and Education Center, 1985.

"Religion: Establishment, Free Exercise and Abortion: The Role of Religion in the Abortion Controversy." In New Perspectives on Human Abortion, edited by D. Horan. Lanham, MD: University Publications of America, 1981.

BOOK REVIEWS

"The Supreme Court, the 'Facts of Life,' and the Moral Sensibilities of 'the Thoughtful Part of the Nation': A Review Essay of Liberty and Sexuality by David Garrow." Human Life Review 20 (1994): 28.

"Review of Articles of Faith, Articles of Peace: The Religious Liberty Clauses and the American Public Philosophy by James D. Hunter and O. Guinness." Christian Legal Society Quarterly 11 (Summer 1990): 16.

"Review of Government by Judiciary by Raoul Berger." Human Life Review 4 (Fall, 1978).

"The Structure of the Religious Liberty Guarantee." Journal of Law and Religion 11, no. 1 (1995): 355.

"The Scope of the Fourteenth Amendment Liberty Interest: Does the Constitution Encompass a Right to Define Oneself Out of Existence? An Exchange of Views With John A. Powell, Legal Director, American Civil Liberties Union." Issues in Law & Medicine 10 (Fall 1994): 183.

"Does the Constitution Encompass a Right to Define Oneself Out of Existence? An Exchange of Views." Issues in Law & Medicine 10 (1994): 183.

"Pastoral Politics and Public Policy: Reflections on the Legal Aspects of the Catholic Bishops' Pastoral Letter on War and Peace." Journal of Law and Religion 4 (Winter 1986): 25.

"Quality-of-Life Ethics and Constitutional Jurisprudence: The Demise of Natural Rights and Equal Protection for the Disabled and Incompetent." Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy 2 (Spring 1986): 71.

"The Worldly Court." Columbia Magazine: July, 1979 13.
"Foreword to the Symposium: Research on the Fetus." Villanova Law Review 37 (1977): 297.

"Abortion and the Constitution: The Need for a Life-Protective Amendment," California Law Review 63 (1975): 1250.

In His Words ...

“The best part of law teaching is the one-on-one coaching that happens when students are working for real clients. Each student has a unique set of abilities and interests. My job is to guide the discovery process and organize internships that will allow each student to develop them.”

– Robert A. Destro

Contact

Office: 456 Law School
The Catholic University of America
3600 John McCormack Rd., NE
Washington, D.C. 20064